Champagne, for the win

The Billiot tasted at last spring's Skurnik do was curiously vomitous and over-dosaged. I didn't find it vinous, though, that said.
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
Everyone drink Jean Milan, Chartogne-Taillet and Veuve Fourny!This is the non-hipster program.
Forget the categorization. To apply Duke Ellington's quote about music to Champagne (and why not, given the long history of Champagne in music [footnote deleted]?) -- there are only two kinds: good and bad.
 
originally posted by Keith Levenberg:
originally posted by Yule Kim:
I'm guessing E-O, Bollinger, Pol Roger, Billiot, and the others mentioned here tend to be more intense in flavor because they have a lot of pinot noir in the blend or maybe it has more to do with the terroir of Ambonnay (though I don't know where Bollinger and Pol Roger gets their grapes)? Or is it just house style and cellar work that accounts for their power, weight, and intensity?
It's not just the pinot noir. Godme and Lallement make mostly pinot noir Champagnes from Verzenay, and while I wouldn't call them nimble they aren't nearly the powerhouses of Billiot and Egly from Ambonnay. I stopped buying Bollinger when the NV went over $35 and never grokked Pol Roger, even SWC, so I can't speak to those.

Interesting. Sounds like it may be partly terroir, but mainly due to cellar work. I really should try all of it, I guess. Time to grow up from Veuve Cliquot.
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
Everyone drink Jean Milan, Chartogne-Taillet and Veuve Fourny!This is the non-hipster program.

I have never been disappointed by Milan's Terres de Noel (a '93 over the summer was astoundingly good).

And do others have experience with Gimmonet's cuvee Gastronome? Had the '05 last night at the end of a long sichuan feast. (Will post brief notes re the other wines separately when I get a moment.) I had not met this cuvee before. Blanc de Blanc, and medium pressure so as to be more food friendly, or so says the importer's information. It was superb; citrusy but not too much so, with lovely fresh bread notes; great acidity but was showing very well; it was fairly giving and open. A delightful* drink. (I just looked up IWC notes on it, and our bottle was definitely showing better and being generally more friendly than the one described there.)

*[edited to correct the typo/grammar.]
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
originally posted by mlawton:

Gonet, maybe? If so, which one? I have liked one very much but not the other. One is in located in Mesnil, roughly between Peters and the Salon/Delamotte facility. The other is further down the hill near de Souza, IIRC.
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
I like Pierre Peters too. At a large Champagne tasting, Gonnet stood out for me, maybe because I had never had it before, but another vote for that. And it costs fewer dollars to boot.

Indeed Gonet, and from les Mesnil. I didn't see another cuvee at the tasting.

Not another cuvee, another producer. There's Phillipe Gonet and Michel Gonet. Phillipe was the one we preferred and also seems to be the one we see in the US more frequently - although neither are exactly easy to find. Phillipe made a "Special Club" and we bought a couple, they were very nice.
 
And do others have experience with Gimmonet's cuvee Gastronome? Had the '05 last night at the end of a long sichuan feast. (Will post brief notes re the other wines separately when I get a moment.) I had not met this cuvee before. Blanc de Blanc, and medium pressure so as to be more food friendly, or so says the importer's information. It was superb; citrusy but not too much so, with lovely fresh bread notes; great acidity but was showing very well; it was fairly giving and open. Delight drink. (I just looked up IWC notes on it, and our bottle was definitely showing better and being generally more friendly than the one described there.)

Had the 02 the other night. It was delicious and perfectly suited to our meal. And I think rather good for the money.
 
originally posted by Levi Dalton:
originally posted by guilhaume:

sorry,let me reformulate that,
is it godard friendly?
i was about to watch Alphaville and open a bottle of inflorescence, but if egly's a better match...

Lemmy Caution against doing that.

"fuck you with your logic" Lemmy Caution, Alphaville, 1965
 
I've always liked E-O's CdC. The '96 was particularly good when young.

Bara and Billiot - I thought the last batch from the former were fine, but Billiot sadly off.

Peters makes a sleeker champagne, closer to the traditional idiom. Happy to drink it on a daily basis. E-O I find more challenging, and not always useful at the table.

Hipster is Leclapart, Clouet and Prevost. And Bouchard. V et S is hipster wannabe, but no less drinkable for that. I could drink the Argile every day.
 
originally posted by Yixin:
I've always liked E-O's CdC. The '96 was particularly good when young.

Bara and Billiot - I thought the last batch from the former were fine, but Billiot sadly off.

Peters makes a sleeker champagne, closer to the traditional idiom. Happy to drink it on a daily basis. E-O I find more challenging, and not always useful at the table.

I agree with all of that.

Hipster is Leclapart, Clouet and Prevost. And Bouchard. V et S is hipster wannabe, but no less drinkable for that. I could drink the Argile every day.

I'm not sure that I've had Clouet, but I have no use for Leclapart and Prevost at all. The Argile was the best of the V et S that I tried, by a good margin but still not what I'm looking for for $90. Rather have 5-6 Pinon and a beer bong.
 
originally posted by Yule Kim:
I'm guessing E-O, Bollinger, Pol Roger, Billiot, and the others mentioned here tend to be more intense in flavor because they have a lot of pinot noir in the blend or maybe it has more to do with the terroir of Ambonnay (though I don't know where Bollinger and Pol Roger gets their grapes)? Or is it just house style and cellar work that accounts for their power, weight, and intensity?

Although Billiot was always high in pinot noir and I used to like them a lot more than I do know. A recent 2002 was much heavier than I remember their younger bottles from 9 years ago.
 
I'm really sorry to hear that Billiot has gone down hill. I've got a NV bottle bought about two years ago that I'll have to try soon. A couple of bottles of the Laetitia bought several years ago were, with some bottle age, among my more memorable Champagne experiences.

I'm with the folks who enjoy NV Pierre Peters, though per Claude I prefer to put them away for a few years before drinking.
 
originally posted by guilhaume:
originally posted by Levi Dalton:
originally posted by guilhaume:

sorry,let me reformulate that,
is it godard friendly?
i was about to watch Alphaville and open a bottle of inflorescence, but if egly's a better match...

Lemmy Caution against doing that.

"fuck you with your logic" Lemmy Caution, Alphaville, 1965

Right back at you, Levi Dalton, 2009
 
originally posted by VLM:
originally posted by Yixin:
I've always liked E-O's CdC. The '96 was particularly good when young.

Bara and Billiot - I thought the last batch from the former were fine, but Billiot sadly off.

Peters makes a sleeker champagne, closer to the traditional idiom. Happy to drink it on a daily basis. E-O I find more challenging, and not always useful at the table.

I agree with all of that.

Hipster is Leclapart, Clouet and Prevost. And Bouchard. V et S is hipster wannabe, but no less drinkable for that. I could drink the Argile every day.

I'm not sure that I've had Clouet, but I have no use for Leclapart and Prevost at all. The Argile was the best of the V et S that I tried, by a good margin but still not what I'm looking for for $90. Rather have 5-6 Pinon and a beer bong.

I have liked what I have had from Clouet. Fairly decent value, as well.
 
Apropos that weird new post on the alcoholic drinks industry, I remember reading somewhere that British fizz was worth a flutter, with grapes grown in the same soil formation as Champagne, but across the channel. Sense? Or nonsense?
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
Apropos that weird new post on the alcoholic drinks industry, I remember reading somewhere that British fizz was worth a flutter, with grapes grown in the same soil formation as Champagne, but across the channel. Sense? Or nonsense?

With global warming, it's making more and more sense. A few people whose tastes I trust have said that Nyetimber is a decent drop, if not exactly bargain priced.

Mark Lipton
 
$90 for the Argile? It's cheaper here in HK? Funny. The rose is take it or leave it (not a fan of the saignee style), but I really like the Fidele as well.

Agrapart and Nyetimber are both serviceable.
 
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